Accessibility guidance for content editors
Your guide to making your digital content more accessible and sustainable.
If you publish content on any of Imperial's online platforms or applications then you have an important role in ensuring we provide accessible content, meaning it can be used and interpreted by everyone that accesses it including those using assistive and inclusive technology. You should also ensure that your content is sustainable by adhering to our best practices. In this section of the web guide you will find everything that you need to create accessible, sustainable and effective content including guidance on headings, links, images, documents, videos and more.
How to make your content accessible and sustainable
Some of the most important aspects of accessibility and sustainability are to do with the way people create and edit content. We have put together guidance for the key elements where you can improve accessibility. We have also created an Accessible content checklist and a sustainable content checklist so you can test your content.
Test your content
Following our guidance will help you create accessible content, but we would also recommend testing this using accessibility tools.
Screen reader simulators and testing tools:
What is digital accessibility?
Accessibility is not just about disability, it is about universality!
- It means making your content accessible to all internet users.
- It is about the inclusion and participation of people with disabilities using digital content.
- There are lots of different factors that affect the way in which people navigate websites.
- Browser technology is also an important consideration - each browser displays information differently.
At Imperial our main website has been designed and built with accessibility as a consideration from the start. For example, the website works with different devices and screen sizes and is navigable using a keyboard.
What is web sustainability?
Sustainability is a crucial element of Imperial’s mission at every level, and our web presence is no exception. The following are all things T4 editors can optimise to ensure their pages are as efficient as possible:
- Media assets and page size should be as compact as possible. Images and other media should be no more than 2MB.
- The bigger a digital estate is, the more resource is required to maintain it. Web editors should regularly audit and remove pages that are no longer relevant.
- AI can be an effective tool in web content creation, but it also carries an environmental impact. We’ve included guidance on responsible AI usage.